College Students Using Marijuana is at an All-Time High, According to University of Michigan

A study out of the University of Michigan found that college students in the U.S. are smoking marijuana more than ever before, in the last 35 years. This is their annual national Monitoring the Future Panel study that they've conducted since 1983.

In 2018, 43% of full-time college students aged 19-22 reported using marijuana at least once in the prior 12 months...

25% of students admitted to using it in the past 30 days.

Around the same percentages were found for same-age part-time college students at 43% and 27% respectively.

In addition to marijuana use on the rise, vaping also increased among college students (shocker).

Thirty-day prevalence of vaping marijuana also increased for college students from 5.2% in 2017 to 10.9% in 2018, a significant 5.7 percentage point increase.

Vaping nicotine also saw a rise from 6.1% in 2017 to 15.5% in 2018...the highest one-year increase of any substance over the past 40 years.

Researchers believe more college students are smoking weed because fewer people, compared to the past, think great harm can be done from regular use. In 2018, only 22% of college students believed it carried a risk. In 1991 that number was at 75%! How times have changed, and as more states begin to legalize recreational weed I can only assume this number will increase year after year.

The study also found that even though alcohol is still the "drug of choice" for college students, the use of it has been declining for years now.

I know this study was done by U of M but I'm writing this story as I wear my Michigan State sweatshirt so it's only right for me to say: GO GREEN!